Can we use an online Notary in Louisiana during COVID 19 Stay at Home Order?

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This is a question that I am getting a lot right now and there is a lot of confusion regarding this topic both for lawyers and our clients. It is not a simple question: can you use an online notary legally in Louisiana? Yes….. and no.

This new rule suspends the previous statutory requirement that the notary, the client, and witnesses be physically in the same room. The changes to the law apply only during this COVID crisis and give several requirements for notaries to notarize documents online, including recording visually and audio the transaction and keeping that recording for a period of 10 years.

Unfortunately, the new rule specifically excludes authentic acts (required for many things in Louisiana including real estate transactions and other legal acts that specify that form.) It also specifically excludes laws pertaining to testaments, trust instruments, donations inter vivos, matrimonial agreements, acts modifying, waiving or extinguishing an obligation of final spousal support. It appears that these legal situations will still require the physical presence of the notary, the signatory and two witnesses.

These are strange days and we are all trying to adapt in creative ways to get the legal work done and comply with the law. I hope this information is helpful to you as you navigate the coming days. Stay well.

About the author

Kim graduated from Loyola University Magna Cum Laude in 1993 and went on to earn her Juris Doctorate from the Paul M. Hebert School of Law at LSU in 1997. After several years working as an associate in the New Orleans law firm of Gertler, Gertler, Vincent and Plotkin, Kim returned to her hometown of Mandeville in 2000 and opened her own firm with an emphasis on family law. Kim has been a qualified civil and family law mediator since 1998 and serves on numerous professional and civic organizations. She has also taught as an Ad-Hoc Professor in Legal Writing for Tulane University.

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Simply Divorce is located in Covington, Louisiana and serves clients throughout St. Tammany Parish, Washington Parish and all over the Northshore which includes Covington, Mandeville, Folsom, Madisonville, Abita Springs, Lacombe, and Slidell.